Guest Blogger: Jaclyn Nicholson: Modern Crime Scene Science

20Jun

There are many parts of an investigation that work together to solve crimes. From forensic specialists, CSIs, coroners, to detectives and the police, it is a highly detailed and intelligent process. Some of the most important steps include lifting fingerprints, estimating the time of death, utilizing forensic entomology and DNA profiling, analyzing bloodstains and doing an autopsy. Each step is intended to supply clues that lead to more evidence. The modern methods for solving crimes are ever-changing and continue to advance.

What a great graphic! That goes up on the wall, especially now that I’m struggling with the forensics in a new thriller. (Doug, is there a post that goes along with the visual that I’m not seeing? I don’t want to miss anything!)

I wondered if either of you could answer or point me toward an answer to a question on analyzing mixed blood at a crime scene. I know that DNA testing can separate out the DNA profiles of various victims (and/or killer) whose blood is mixed at a crime scene. But can a crime lab do the same with blood types? That is, if there is a pool of blood or a piece of clothing that might have more than one person’s blood in or on it, can a crime lab determine that through testing blood types rather than DNA?

There is just the brief post and the link to the graphic which for some reason I couldn’t get to show up in the post–thus the link. Yes, blood typing can reveal mixed blood types. An excellent example is the famous Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald case. He killed his family and amazingly each member of the family had a different blood type which allowed investigators to reconstruct the scene and blow up MacDonald’s story.

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